Aaron Aaronsohn

Aaron Aaronsohn

Aaron Aaronsohn ( _he. אהרון אהרנסון; 1876–May 15, 1919) was a renowned Romanian-born Jewish agronomist, botanist, traveler, entrepreneur, and Zionist politician.

Aaronsohn is remembered primarily as the discoverer of wild emmer ("Triticum dicoccoides"), which he believed to be "the mother of the wheat." He was also the founder and head of Nili, a ring of Jewish patriots spying for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during World War I. Owing to information supplied by Nili to the British Army, General Edmund Allenby was able to mount a surprise attack on Beersheba, unexpectedly bypassing strong Ottoman defenses in Gaza.

Biography

Aaron Aaronsohn was born in Bacău, Romania, and brought to Palestine, then part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, at the age of six, when his parents were among the founders of Zichron Yaakov, one of the pioneer Jewish agricultural settlements of the First Aliyah.

After his study in France, sponsored by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Aaron Aaronsohn botanically mapped Palestine and its surroundings and became a leading expert on the subject. On his 1906 field trip to Mount Hermon, he discovered Triticum dicoccoides, an important find for agronomists and historians of human civilization. It made him world-famous and, on a trip to the United States, he was able to secure financial backing for a research station he established in Atlit - the first experimental station in the Levant.

After the war, Chaim Weizmann called Aaronsohn to work on the Versailles Peace Conference but Aaronsohn was killed in an airplane crash over the English Channel. His research on Eretz Israel and Transjordan flora, as well as part of his exploration diaries, were published posthumously.

Works

* "Agricultural and botanical explorations in Palestine", 1910
* "Reliquiae Aaronsohnianae", 1940

References

* Ronald Florence, "Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T. E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn, and the Seeds of the Arab-Israeli Conflict", 2007, Viking Adult, ISBN 978-0670063512.
* Chaim Herzog, "Heroes of Israel", 1989, Little Brown and Company, Boston ISBN 0-316-35901-7
* [http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/full/10/10/1509 Molecular Genetic Maps in Wild Emmer Wheat]
* Goldstone, Patricia. "Aaronsohn's Maps: The Untold Story of the Man Who Might Have Created Peace in the Middle East". San Diego: Harcourt, 2007. [August 2007]
* Shmuel Katz, "The Aaronsohn Saga", 2007, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem ISBN 978-9652294166

External links

* [http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/biography_aaron_aronson.htm Biography of Aaron Aaronsohn] at [http://www.zionism-israel.com/zionist_biographies.htm Zionism and Israel Information Center Biography Section]
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Aaron Aaronsohn — Nacimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Aaron Aaronsohn — Aaron Aaronsohn. Aaron Aaronsohn (né en 1876 à Bacău en Roumanie et mort le 15 mai 1919) est un scientifique, un explorateur, un homme d affaires et un homme politique. Aaronsohn est surtout connu pour sa découverte du blé sauvage qu il …   Wikipédia en Français

  • AARONSOHN — AARONSOHN, family of pioneers in Ereẓ Israel. EFRAYIM FISHEL (1849–1939), one of the founders of Zikhron Ya akov, was the father of the leaders of nili , AARON, ALEXANDER, and SARAH. Born in Falticeni, Romania, he went to Ereẓ Israel with his… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Aaron (given name) — Infobox Given Name name = Aaron gender = Masculine region = English, Biblical origin = Exodus 4:14 footnotes = one of light Aaron (originally Aharon) is a Hebrew masculine given name originating with Aaron of the Old Testament. There are variant… …   Wikipedia

  • Aarón (nombre) — Este artículo trata sobre el nombre propio. Para el personaje bíblico, véase Aarón. Aarón Aarón Origen Hebreo …   Wikipedia Español

  • Aaron (surname) — Family name name = Aaron imagesize= caption= pronunciation = meaning = mountaineer , or mount of strength region =Hebrew origin =Hebrew related names =Aarons, Aaronson, Aaronsohn, Aron footnotes=Aaron is a Jewish surname originating with Aaron of …   Wikipedia

  • Aaronsohn, Aaron — (1876–1919)    Head of Nili spy group in Palestine. Aaronsohn was brought to Palestine from Romania at the age of six and grew up in Zichron Ya’akov, which his father helped to found. He was later joined by his sister Sarah.    Trained in France… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Aaronsohn — This is a surname of Hebrew origins. Recorded in over twenty different spellings ranging from Aron, Aaron and Agron, to Aaronsohn, Aronovitch, and Aronowicz, it derives from the ancient given name of Aharon , born by the brother of Moses, the… …   Surnames reference

  • Aaron — This is a surname of Hebrew origins. Recorded in over twenty different spellings ranging from Aron, Aaron and Agron, to Aaronsohn, Aronovitch, and Aronowicz, it derives from the ancient given name of Aharon , born by the brother of Moses, the… …   Surnames reference

  • Sarah Aaronsohn — (January 5, 1890 – October 9, 1917) was a member of Nili, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British in World War I, and a sister of notable botanist Aaron Aaronsohn.[1] Sometimes she is …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”